LIEGISLATURE, }  IHOUSE Doc.
1863.   f                                         N. 18.
[No. 18.]
REPORT of the Majority of the Joint Committee on Education
and Agriculture, relative to the Agricultural College.
The majority of the joint committee of education and agrienlture, to whom was referred so much of the Governor's
message as relates to the Agricultural College, have had the
-iatter under careful consideration, and submit the accompanying report, to which they invite the candid attention of the
HIouse:
It seems to have been a favorite idea with the people of
the State, and with their representatives, from  an  early
period, that tlere should be provided as soon as practicable,
an Agricultural School, for instruction in agriculture and the
natural sciences connected therewith; for the law establishing a University, makes provision for additional brancles,
and among them an agricultural branch; and at the time of
revising the Constitution, the qnuestion of sttaching such a
school to the University was discussed, but the measure failed,
simply because it was coupl pd with an appropriation oflands
for the purpose of establishing a model and experimental
I




2                                             HousE Doc.
farm, which was thought to be inexpedient, because it placed
the lands out of reach of the Legislature.  But a provision
was introduced enabling the Legislature to so attach the
school whenever the interests of the State seelned to require it.
The Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society,
at their annual meeting, after the revision of the Constitution,
petitioned the Legislature to establish an Agricultural School
in connection with the University, and place it under the
charge of the board of regents. The Legislature did not
comply with the request of the petitioners, and in 1854 they
sent in another petition, accompanied by a bill, tor establishing a separate institution. The bill was amended somewhat,
and adopted. It required, among its most remarkable provisions, that the College should be located within ten miles of
Lansing.
hle duty of locating the farm and College was conferred
upon the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural
Society. The Secretary advertised for proposals, and about
the middle of June, A. D. 1855, that commiittee-leaving
behind them the land-marks and evidences of civilization,
and pushing forward into a wide and desolate wildernessplanted the first State Agricultural College on the Western
Continent. Nothing but zeal-without any knowledge of
the practical business of founding and building up a great
institution of learning, of the absolutely needed influences
and interests which alone could support and sustain so great,,
complicated and magnificent an enterprise, and which are
found nowhere but in old communities —nothling but zeal,
we say, can ever be pleaded in palliation of the great mistake of those who then thought to build up such an institution here, in the midst of primeval forests, broken only now
and then by the small openings of poor settlers; where, as
in all new districts, malarious diseases are almost epidemic;
three miles from any settlement, and entirely separated from




No. 10.                                                     3
all the genial and refining influences of society and friendly
intercourse.
When the committee assembled at this place, for the purpose of locating tie College farm, the Secretary of the State
Agricultural Society read before tlemn a lengthy address, ia
which he introduced a mass of testimony relating to the
operation of Agricultural Schools in Europe, proving beyond
cavil, that not only is the art of agriculture at its highest
stage of development, where there are no purely Agricultural
Schools, but that where such schools have been established,
they have either failed outright, or have been obliged to add
the ordinary College course, at least so far as to embrace
other sciences, history and modern literature.  And whyafter having had before them  such a mass of facts, brought
to light by the experience of those old countries, and after
hearing the unanswerable arguments contained in a paper
from Prof. Winclhell, as to the policy of uniting the College
with the University, and the disadvantages which must follow a separate system, which was embodied in this addresswhy the committee did not at once retrace their steps, and
leave the hurried action of the Legislature to bere-considered,
is not easily determined.  To illustrate the policy of the
State, and of the Agricultural Board, let us introduce a
comparison:
A firm is engaged in the manufacture of machines. Extensive buildings and work-shops are erected, supplied with
all the necessary fixtures-machinery, motive power, tools
and apparatus, and with a complete corps of operatives, so
that they are able to meet all existing demands upon the
establishment.  Years roll round and the mnanufactory  has
become firmly settled, on a sound business foundation.  But
now, a new want arises-as is fiequently the case in new
communities, or, in progressive communities anywhere-for
an article somewhat different in its nature from the ordinary
manufacture, and it is found that the machinery in use will
not supply it fully and that the number of hands must be in



4                                                 HoiUSE Doo,
creased. Now, what does this firm do?  Do they decide to
erect new workshops, duplicate all their machineryl -motivepower, shafting, pulleys, gearing, belting, heatiilg apparatus,
tools, and all the necessary incidental expenses, employ
another set t' workmen and-build residences for them?.  Or
do they conclude to make a few simple additions to their
machinery, employ a few more workmen, and then, with
true economy, make every man and every machine work to
the full extent of their capacity. In the mind of every busiaess man, there can be, of course, but one answer to these
propositions. A repetition, or duplication of expenses, is always considered a most dangerous experiment —a leak which
will almost surely bring prostration, if not ruin, in any business. They would most certainly decide to make the additions to their machinery and force needed, and  use their
old. workmen, whose skill and experience could be relied
upon.
Now, a College or a University, is only a manulfactory on
a higher and grander scale, supplied with all the machinery,
apparatus and operatives, necessary to turn out well educated
and polished men and women; and it must be conducted on
a strict business basis, or it cannot in any measure be successful.
When the new demand was made upon the State for what
has been termed agricultural education, (elnpirically,) and
its legislators began to look around for the means of meeting
the demand, we had our noble University in full operationl
doing an extensive and prosperous business, withi a full supply of machinery, apparatls and help, to carry on its then
accustomed routine of labor; and by the sinple addition of
two or three professorships, and a srmall cultivated farm, it
could have performedl all that the new  demand required,
with entire satif'action, and without disturbing at all the
regular courses of the Institution,
But the State decided to build another manufactory and




No. 10.                                                       5
to add to it a vast domain of land and timber; bay new machinery, procure a new and untried set of hands, build residences for them, and in fine, with the hard earned money of
thie people, duplicate all the running, expenses of the one established institution, and lmuch more than that,  without increa'sing one iota thle educational advantages to the people,
mnore than migcht have been done with less than one-quarter
of the expense already incurred.  Was thi3, we ask, sound
statesmanship?  Was it true political economy?
But to vary the simile somewhat, so as to illustrate our
present condition:  The State now  finds itself in possession
of two extensive manufactories, devoted to the same purposes and objects, and situated in diffirent parts of the State.
They are both necessarily expensive.  It is found that one
can, with a trifling expenditure, do all the labor of both, and
with its old operatives and its well regulated and extensive
nachlinery, can do the work better and cheaper than can be
done by new  hands, with imperfect machinery and means.
On careful investigation this is found to be unmistakably so.
The simple lquestion then is, shall the Legislature unite- the
two under the old, experienced corps of operatives?  And
now whlen the State is deeply in debt, when the condition of
thie country and its finances warn every true economist of
the great danllger of unnecessary public expenditures, when
the people are burdened with a taxation fbr the support and
inaintenance of the Government, such as they never before
dreamed of enduring, this question  comes to us with increased force, inasmuch as the union of the two institutions will
save to tle State, the immense sums which must be expended
in supporting and carrying them on separately.
As this is the most delicate as well as weighty proposition
coming within the scope of tlis report, your conmmittee feel
that it deserves a most careful consideration, free fromn  all
bias, local prejudice, or personal interest whatever, and that
the question should be put upon the broad basis of State




6                                                     HousE Doe.
policy and the general good; all local questions should be
ignored.
In addition to the preceding observations and arunments,
whicli are believed to be correct in principle, and entitled to
some weight, some further considerations, bearing upon the
same points, will not be out of place.  Gov. Andrew, of
Alassachusetts, in his late address to the Legislature, alluding to the grant of land by Congress, says with great truth
and fbrce, " this Congressional grant of Congress we shall
not use wisely, if we make of it silnl)ly a means of giving
farmerls sons such an  education as they  could obtain by
living on a well managed  farm and attending an ordinary
high school.  It must be made the means of a positive increase of human knowledge in the departments bearing on
agriculture and manufalctures, and the medium of teaching
not only ftarmers, but tlhose who shall become teachers and
improvers of the art of fiarmimring.
Such an institution should have ample lands for experimental purposes, and even on a moderate scale of completeness, should embrace the following distinct Professorships:
1. Mathematics, pure, and applied  to Surveying, Levelling,
&c.  2. Drawing and Design.  3. General IPhysics and Meteorology.  4. M4.   echanics and Engineering, especially as applied to agricultural machinery and processes to rural architecture, road making, &c. 5. General and Agricultural Chemistry. 6. Chetnical analysis, especially as applied to soils, manures and products.  7. Botany and Vegetable Physiology.
8. Zoology and Animal Plysiology, including breeding of
animals, their  diseases and  treatment.  9. Geology  and
Mlineralogy.  10. Practical Husbandry."  Hei goes on further to say: " The act o' Congress does not make provision
for an Agricultural Scheol of the highest class in each State.
Nor would it be posdi',le now to find, dsonnllected from our
Colleges and Univelsi i s, as many men of hi;gh talent,-and
otherwise competent, as would be required to fill the chairs
of one such school.  But Mlassachusetts already has, in the




No. 10. 
projected Bussey Institution, an Agricultural School, founded,
though not yet in operation, with a large endowment, connected also with Harvard College and the Lawrence Scientific School. She can, therefore, by securing the grant from
Congress, combining with the Institute of Technology and
the Zoological lMuseum, and working in harmony with the
College, secure also for the agricultural student, for whom
she thus provides, not only the benefits of the national appropriation, but of the BlBssey Institution, and the means
and instrumentalities of the Institute of Technology, as well
as those accumulated  at Cambridge.  The benefits to our
-State, and to our counlry, and to mankind, which can be obtained by this co-operation, are of the highest character, and
can be obtained in no other way."
Here we get an idea of what constitutes an agricultural
education, and of the means which are to be employed in,
acquiring it, which it is believed we may study with smme
profit.  The entire collegiate force of the State is to be combined for the benefit of the sons of farmners and mecha'nicso.
Labor is to be elevated and made honorable by throwingopen to it the entire educational resources of the State.    I
cannot doubt," says Gov. Andrew, "that the people of the
Commonwealth have a right to those benefits; the prevention of all the waste of means, the weakening of resources,
the repetitions of professorships, libraries, apparatus and
other material, consequent on scattering instead of concentration.  The object should be to centralize and economize
means and power, while distributing and popularizing education and its fruits."
We shall not dare to quote further fiom  tllis admirable
message, lest we weary the patience of the House; but it contains unanswerable arguments against that fatal policy which
scatters the means of the State upon various projects, making
and supporting only third-rate institutions, and finally bringing the vital educational interests of the State into disrepute.
If our State is to retain her place among those that are lead.




$                                                    House Doc,,
ing educational States, she mu-st unite her means, instead of
dispersing them, upon one institution, develo)ping that, so
that it may embrace every interest, and pour the gladsomeo
lighit of universal science uipon every proifssion, upon every
industrial art, and every trade. Then shall we be able to
realize, by actual experiment, the grand and true idea of a
University.
The University now costs the peol)le of the State, annually,
for its support, A40,000; but with this sum, additions to the
library, museum, gatllery of ait, &c., are yearly made.  The
lirary, apparatus and other means of instruction, lhave cost
the people of the State $50,000.  These sums are freely given,
inasmuch as it has been the intention of the people, fromn the
beginning, to build up. here an Institution, whlich, in time%
may rival the old Universities of the east, embracingo every
science, every art, anI: visiting, witl its benefits and beniga
influences, every home in tihe State.  Now, it is only asked
that the means witlhin o0ur control sholuld be so employed as
to: build on the foundation our flatllers laid, and endeavor
to nmake actual, in the life of our society, their grand  ideal
of a University, equal to the wants and the capacity of our
people.  Wh lile we ignore the centralization of political
power, we hlave no fear's of thef concentration of the means
of educ tion.  We wvould gladly concentrate in one, all thle
Colleges in the State; and what an array of gitts, talents and
means ol comprehensive illustration such a union would
bring' together I
A  word as to the location of' the University.  The section;of country in which the city of-t nn Ar bor is situated, has
attracted  the attention  of every one who has visited the
place.  All around, in undulating beauty, watered by the
winding Huron, lies a country, rich, healthful, ornamented
with substantial dwellings of intelligent agriculturists, well
fenced, well cultivated, and dotted everywhere with orchards
and fine gardens.  The city of Ann Arbor contains an intelligent, courteous, and enterprising class of men and women;




No. 10,                                                     9
and  lhe industrions and high-minded student has easy access
to the best society.
Let us sum up now, the certain advantages which a transfer
of the Agricultural College interest  o the University, would
aflord to the student and to the State at large:
1. It will prove a saving of further outlay for buildings,
for some time to come, at least;
2. It will save all further expense for library, apparatus,
museum, &c.;
3. The advantage to the agricultural student of the Geological and Mineralogical collections of the University, which
cannot be surpassed in the country and cannot be duplicated
without a re-survey of the State.  In the collections also, of
birds, quadrupeds, insects and plants, the outfit is such as
the Agricultural College could not, for many years, equal,
and indeed it would be an unwarrantable expense to purchase
the same over again;
4. By uniting the apparatus of the College with that of the
University, all classes of' students could share the benefits of
an extensive laboratory;
5. An entire saving to the State of the amount now paid
to Professors at the College. Your committee have ascertained that no appropriation will be needed in this line at the
University;
6, A saving of all incidental expenses;
7. The University afiords superior means of instruction in
every branch;
8. The incidental advantages of a large Institution where
all the sciences are taught;
9. The advantage to the student of boarding in private
families;
10. Scientific agriculture is necessarily a part of University instruction;
11. It will centralize and reproduce, instead of dispersing
our educational resources;
2




10                                                  HOUSE Doeo
12. The advantages of society, business, trade, and a
healthful climate, over an isolated residence in the woods,
with ague or an aching liver for a comforter;
13. But last and most irnportant of all, the more complete
and thorough education which tie University can offer to the
agricultural student.  Your committee believe that the proposition to give the sons of agriculturists and mechlanics an
education essentially different from that of other classes, is
entirely erroneous. The manual labor professions are as
often now represented in the halls of legislation, and in all
public enterprises, as any other.  Then why should they not
be as thoroughly educated, and be permitted to oblain that
education on an equal footing with other professions?  Why
should your son and mine, because you are a mechanic and
I a farmer, be sent into the wilderness to school, to pile logs
and dig stumps, while the sons of our neighbors have access
to the cultivated society of our best agriculturists, mechanics, merchants and professionai men?  Is there any good
reason for it? Shall we not demand it as a sacred right, that
the means of the State shall be so employed, that its benefits
may be universal?
The Faculty of the Agricultural College propose:
1. "' To impart a knowledge of science and its applications
to agriculture."
This idea of the application of science to agriculture has
had a run of several years.  It has served a purpose with
theoretical writers and teachers to give a fine turn to a sentence, or to make a show of knowledge without a specific conception as to what it involved; and after all, the student is
generally left to make his own applications, which, in truth,
he will usually do without much assistance.  What we most
want is knowledge, properly and thorouglhly imparted; the
application follows as a sequence.  Knowledge is power, and
few persons neglect or refuse to use it, or apply it, when opportunity offers. But how is it proposed at the Agricultural
gjYUMLa~d arnu  rru ~vrr N bl~L-~ ~r~yp   to ~yg~clun




No. 10.                                                    11
College, to learn to apply the knowledge gained in the
laboratory?  There the operations in the laboratory or
lecture room are conducted by one person, the out-coor applications by another.  The Professor imparts instruction to
the students in the various branches, and the farmer inmparts
a knowledge of the applications.  But the query is, how is
the farmer to know, when the class comes to the field, what
the Professor has been teaching?  But again: suppose that
the Professor has been teaching the chemical principles involved in any operation-in the, proper preservation  of
manures, for example; or again, in the curing of hay, how is
a practical farner, who has not given his attention to science,
to teach the application, and when he was not present with
the class during the lecture?
The Faculty propose:
2.   To impart a knowledge of agriculture as an art." We
have examined fully the history of Agricultural Institutions,
and though this has been one of the leading objects as proposed with all of them, yet we have been unable to find a
single instance where anything has been accomplishle worthy
of mention.  The truth is, such Institutions arc always behind
our best farmers, who manage their own aftairs, and who, of
course, from the strongest of motives, conduct them after the
inoJt approved method.  Practice in tlrmning, is always allead
of science, and so it has been with nearly every manipulated
art.  Practice, by repeated trials, establishes facts, without
inquiring about the philosophy of them; the scientist ftollows,,
taking the facts as data, and establishes and unfolds principles, and draws his deductions. Therefore, for an institution
of learning, to attempt to teach practical farming, wmlen the
student can go to the neighlboring agriculturist and acquire
a more thorough knowledge in less time, and get pay for hislabor besides, will surely prove an abortive undertaking.
3. "To prosecute experiments, promote the science of agriculture and improve the methods employed."




12                                                   EHouSE Doc.
Every practical man will look with much interest to these
contemplated investigations and ilnprovements.  But inasmuchl as we are called upon to express our views on all rnatb
tors pertaining to this important subject, we must say to tlh
Faculty, that with the means in hand, the Institution imperfectly organized, an extensive, roughl and rugged c    farm  relying upon the labor of students, we do not understand whlat
useful experiments they can undertake, nor what valuable
new methods they can develop.
The expenses of the Agricultural College have been  as
follows:
18055........................- 10,158 9,5
1856,...............................    84,1 81 50
1857,..............c —...  -.........C.. r...    48, 19 01
i855~........~............................   8158I   -5
1859,. 9o   eie    *caC7r  7    b7e                   17,676 45
1860,,.o....... o..  c.o............. 13,219 43
1861U  X,~ — o..........                  9,597 50
186,  O...       O..O...    C   O   b.  13,506 62
eTotal,.   8.~..u....c.ll(,. Lr.tl:...t..l1 15,318 31
Being? for grounds, buildings, furniture, apparatus, salaries
and runniing expenses, &c.
The expenses of the Boarding   llal are  $2,500 over and
above the receipts, per  year.  This arises fiom  paying
students' cents per hour as a bonus ftb  attending0 school.
The averaCe yearly expenses h1ave been about $19,000 1
In case the College is transtbrred to tlie University, this annual drain upon the treasury will be saved.  No appropriation will be required from thle State, to cariry out tile highest
wishes and hopes of the friends of agricultural education in
the State-not a dollar.  If a Military School is attached, a
small appropriation will need to be made, not exceeding $3,000
annually, for a time.  Besides these advantages, your coinmittee are assured by one of the leading citizens of Ann




No. 10.                                                   13
Arbor, which they regard as entirely reliable, that in case the
Legislatul'e see fit to make the transfer of the College to the
tUniversity, the citizens of that city will donate to the College
40 acres of land lying within a proper distance, or they will
raise $5,000 in money, to be applied in improving any such
lands as the State may purchase. The proceeds of the grant
of land made by Congress, will sustain the College in connection with the University, at the highest point of usefulness, wlile, if the Institution is continued separately, it will
not half supply its wants.
The important question now  arises: what would be done
with the College Farm in case of a transfbr?  The peculiar
condition of another State interest seems to furnish an answer.
The State has taken upon herself a great and generous
trust; one that honprs her, and those also into whose hands
it is more directly entrusted.  We allude to the Reform
School.  Never did a people engage in a more humane and
noble enterprise; never did  a State adopt so simple and
cheap a scheme, as is embraced in the system here adopted,
for the suppression and prevention of crime.  This Institution is full and overflowing.  A most alarming and virulent
disease has lately broken out suddenly, among the inmates,
owing to their crowded quarters. The managers want the
College Farm, so as to enable them to adopt the ifmily system, so successfully introduced in other States.  Shall we
give it to thlis noble work'  We can safely trust an intelligent and humane people to answer.
Your committee can barely siuggest these propositions.
The tedious length which this report has reached, fo)rbids any
discussion of questions so weighty.  They are, therefore, left
for your consideration and disposition.
Your colmmittee beg leave t:) ofier two bills, which emm
brace the oljects contemplated in this report, entitled




14                                     EouSE Doe. No. 18.
A bill to provide for the reorganization of the Reform
School, and for making certain grants thereto;
A bill to provide for uniting the State Agricultural College
with the University;
And ask to be discharged.
CHEAS. BETTS,
WILLIAM WARNER,
HI. J. BEAKES,
B. M. WILLIAMS,
GEO. L. CRANE,
E. B. WINANS,
Majority of the Committee.












LEGISLATURE,                                    HOUSE Doe,
1863,                                         No. 19.
[No. 19.]
REPORT of the Minority of the Joint Committee on Education
and Agriculture, relative to the Agricultural College.
The minority of the joint committee on agriculture and
education, respectfully report that they have had ulnder consideration the affairs of the Agricultural College, and among
other questions, a proposition to abandon the College, and
establish in its stead a Department of Agriculture, in the
University at Ann Arbor.
In discussing the question of removal, it is important to
avoid the confusion of measures properly distinct. It is said
that in abandoning the Agricultural College, the farm and
buildings that have been purchased and constructed at so
much expense, will not be lost to the State, as they can be
used for a department of the Reform School. It is said that
the removal would save to the State the appro,, iation asked
for the expenses of the College, up to the time when sufficient
funds would be derived from  the late grant of Congress.
These suggestions have no natural connection with the question, "shall the College be removed?"  Our present action is
I




442.HIovUSE Doc
not confined to the spending or saving of a few thousand
dollars, but bears directly, perhaps definitely, upon the
proper foundation of an institution, destined before many
years, to command a large income for the interests of the
people of the State. The real question is, will the science
and practice of agriculture be better promoted in an independent College, such as the Agricultural College now is, or
in a Department at the  University? and this question
should stand apart from other issues, and be considered on its
own merits.
The College has been in existence, in its present location,
some six years. It has passed through, it is believed, that
period of early struggling which observation proves, every
institution of a like nature must experience.  There has been
obtained for it now, a munificent endowment from Congress
and former Legislatures. Interests and sympathies have
gathered arouud it in its present location, and it is believed that it would be unjust, to say nothing of the policy,
to remove it now.
The policy of the government of the State has always
heretofore been, and doubtless should hereafter continue to
be, to distribute the various State institutions to the different
parts of the State. It was this policy that induced the location of the State Prison at Jackson, when that place was
new and insignificant as compared with Detroit. It was the
same policy that gave the University to Ann Arbor; one
Asylum to Flint, and the other to Kalamazoo; the Normal
School to Ypsilanti; the Agricultural College to Lansing,
and the like. And it may be safely calculated that as new
institutions become necessary, they will be so distributed as
to do justice to other parts of the State, and at the same
time advance the interests of the whole. It cannot be justice
or sound policy to concentrate all the institutions, even the
educational institutions, at one place. A wise government
will labor to develop every part of its territory. The new
idea of 6 concentration and centralization " of all the insti



No. 19.                                                 3
tutions of education in the State, is not calculated to promote
the interests of all sections, or work the greatest good to the
greatest number.
The principle upon which the removal of this College to
Ann Arbor is advocated, will, if adopted, be injurious to the
prospects and interests of every other locality in the State
not at present as fortunate.
If the Agricultural College ought to be removed to Ann
Arbor, because of the great advantages of that place, then
should not the Normal School, the College at Adrian, and
those at Hillsdale, Olivet, and other places in the State, be
removed to the University, for the same reason   Surely, the
same reasoning applies to them.
The proposed policy of removal and of concentrating our
institutions, is calculated to create uneasiness and alarm
throughout the State, as its principle must be impolitic, unjust and ominous to the hopes of other sections.
The Agricultural College has been in operation as one of
the established educational institutions of the State, and
should not be disturbed, except for the best of reasons.
In discussing the question of removal, several propositions
are to be considered:
1. Can the course of agricultural education be better pursued in a department at Ann Arbor, than in the independent Agricultural College?
2. Will a dependent department at Ann Arbor gain more
agricultural students than the independent Agricultural
College?
3. Which plan will prove most advantageous to the agricultural interests of the State?
4. Which plan will, in the end, be the cheapest,?
Upon the first, second and third questions, the undersigned
have no doubt. They think the great interests of agriculture
demand an independent Agricultural College, and that such
an Institution alone can meet the wants of community and
accomplish the objects intended.




4                                                 HOUSE Do.C
As agriculture is but the application of several other
sciences, growing out of chemistry, geology, meteorology.
mechanics, &c., the first thought might be, that a professorship or two, in Colleges where these sciences are pursued,
would answer all requirements for a thorough agricultural
education; but a further inquiry would, prior to any trial,
give rise to serious doubts as to the policy of such a connection.  First, agriculture is so complicated an art, depends for
its highest exercise on so various a knowledge, that the
course of a student's study should, for several years, be pursued with distinct reference to it.  Again, the successful
prosecution of agriculture requires that the habit of manual
labor shall not be discontinued during the period when an
education is acquiring. This daily labor is a habit discora
dant with the general habits of students, at least as an essential thing, is a variation from the usual discipline of College
life.
Our first inquiry would naturally be, after the experience
of other Institutions, and the counsels of men who have
given their attention to the subject. The advice of such men
is almost unanimous in favor of independent Agricultural
Schools.  A  report concerning Agricultural Colleges was
made some years since to the Legislature of Massachusetts5
by a commission appointed for the purpose.  It was written
by Dr. Edward Hitchcock, the learned geologist and edun
cator, who spent several months in the examination of English
and European Agricultural Schools.  Governor Andrew, in
his late message to the Legislature of Massachusetts, styles
it " the excellent and elaborate report of Professor Hitchcocki
comprising the results of his learned researches, and survey
of the Agricultural Institutions of Europe."  Dr. Lee, of the
LPatent Office, speaks of it as exhaustive.
The following are extracts from that report:
" VI. European AgricultUral Schools have tauglt uis some
nimortant lessons.
"6. That agricultural professorships, in Colleges and Uni



No. 19.                                                    5
versities, are not sufficient.  1. Because lectures of this sort
attract but few of the students of the Colleges, who are lookl
ing forward to professional life.  Such is certainly the case
everywhere in Europe.  2. Because the two classes of students, who would thus be brought together, would have toc
little sympathy to act in concert, and as equals, in the same
Institution. 3. Because, without such concert and sympathy,
one or other of the classes of students would feel no pride in
the Institution; and without such an esprit de corps it could
not prosper. 4. Because such professorships, unless numerous, would be entirely insufficient to accomplish the objects
desired.
" IX. We learn, from European experience, that independent Agricultural Institutions are essential to accomplish the
object which is aimed at.
G" 1. Because the field is wide enough to require such establishments.  The principles of agriculture are based upon a
large part of the physical sciences; and it requires a good
literary education to understand those sciences. No man
can understand the principles of farming, who is not more or
less acquainted with chemistry, anatomy, physiology, botany,
mineralogy, geology, meteorology, and zoology; and then the
practical part requires an extensive acquaintance with various
branches of mathematics and natural philosophy.  Many
important principles of agriculture can, indeed, be taught in
the primary schools, or academy; but there should be, somewhere, institutions of a higher character, entirely devoted to
a thorough instruction and investigation of the science of the
subject.
2. Because it demands extensive, collections, of various
kinds, in order to elucidate the principles of husbandry;
enough, indeed, to belong to any scientific institution, and
too many to form a mere subordinate branch of some institution with a different object in view.
" 3. Because the number of institutions must be so large,




PaX,^ ~ ~ ~   ~      ~     ~I HousE DOC,
that they could not conveniently form  an adjunct to some
other institution.
-"4. Because the interests of agriculture are large enough to
demand an institution definitely consecrated to their promotion.  To other art is so important, and I may add, no other
is so difficult to be successfully cultivated; and, therefobre
every  means possible should  be employed  to render it
assistance.
" l. Many of the principles of agriculture are, indeed, themselves yet unsettled; but a great many are settled, of which
our farmers are yet ignorant, or know them only imperfectly,
To explain and illustrate these, will be the grand business of
agricultural schools.  Hence, it is the sons of farmers who
would be most interested in attending them.  But there are
many others, who desire to prepare their sons for agricultural
pursuits; at least, to enable them to oversee farming establish"
ments, if not to labor with their own hands; and they would
find such schools a most important auxiliary to their success.
"2. In such schools our youth would find an excellent ope
portunity of learning the best method of conducting the practical operations of the farm; in other words, of seeing theory
reduced to practice. They would learn, also, how to labor
with their own hands, for I take it such a requisition would
be indispensable in these schools.  And thus might we hope
that practical farming would become nmore popular, as it
should be.) almong all classes of the community.
"  3. These schools would form centres of information on the
subject ofagriculture, and from them our farmers could derive
important aid.  They would keep in communication with
similar institutions throughout the world, and thus would
learn all that might be new or important in husbandry, and
spread it through the community.
"But wJt shm1all be the hcarcceter of t/e Agricltural Schools f
This difficult incuiry I would meet by a few suggestions.
But after the survey that has now been taken of agricultural
education in Europe, it cannot be expected that I should




No. 19.                                                      7
recommend, or that the community will be satisfied, with
schools of an inferior class.  Twenty, or even ten years ago,
it might have answered to propose the introduction of agriculture into our primary schools, or as a department in our
academies, or a professorship in our colleges.  All this it may
be well enough to do now, but something more must be done.
So Europeans judge, and accordingly, as we have seen, they
have started institutions with as ample a foundation, and as
numerous a body of instructors, as we find in most of our
American colleges.  Nothing short of this, as it seems to
Ime, will be sufficient for our country; nay, I fancy that at
least one such superior institution is needed in each of our
States.  The work to be done is too great, the number of
teachers is too many, and the amount of various collections
too large, to attempt to attach an agricultoral school to some
other institution, and that too, as only a subordinate branch.
Even if agriculture is taught in our colleges, academies, and
primary schools, it needs some one institution devoted entirely to the subject, to give effect and completeness to the
subordinate teaching, and to carry it still farther; otherwise
the agricultural knowledge will be as the literary would be.
if the universities and colleges of the land were taken out of
the way, and only the primary schools and academies remnained.
" But though our community, as I believe, especially the intelligent farmers, are prepare d to appreciate the importance
of such superior institutions, I fear that but few are ready to
devote the amount of funds requisite for putting such a semilnary at once into full operation.  Nay, none but those who
have had experience know how large an amount of money it
requires, with the strictest economy, to found and carry on
successfully a large institution of learning.  My hope is,
however, that the government and the people will start this
enterprise, if they do it at all, with a high standard in view,
even though they cannot, till a considerable period, reach the
height of their wisheso9




3$8~~~ E~~~~HOUSE Do,)
Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, in his late address
to the Legislature, advises them  to unite the fund arising
from the grant of Congress to the Bussey endowment, making
it necessary to have the course of agricultural instruction
given in Roxbury, several miles distant fiomn Cambridge,
the seat of Harvard University. The farm at Roxbury consists of over two hundred acres of land.
Professor James F. W. Johnston fills the chair of agricultural chemistry in Durham  University, England, and is the
author of an agricultural chemistry of high value.
In one of his lectures delivered before the New York State
Agricultural Society, a few years since, he says:
"It has been proposed to attach agricultural departments
to some of the colleges.  To that there can be no objection;
at the same time, any encouragement which the State may
give to this kind of instruction, should be given to the one
school by which all other schools will be regulated, when once
you get it fairly organized.
" There is this difficulty in regard to attaching agricultural
departments to existing colleges, that if this new department
is under mere scientific men, the proper wants of farmers'
sons will not be properly looked to.  So sensible am I of this,
that in the suggestions I made to the Legislature at iNew
Brunswick, as to the mode of improving its agriculture,
whilst I recommended an Agricultural School at Fredtrickton,
where there is a college, I have recoimmended that it should
not be connected with the college, because they are not practical men, and are not calculated to give instruction to pupils
intended for practical life. What is true there, is true all
over the world. It is necessary tllat such a school should be
in charge of men who understand agriculture, and the wants
and wishes of agrliculturists, and who know what should be
done to improve both."
Professor J. C. Holmes, formerly of the State Agricultural
College, says:
"As we are able to judge from  the-past experience of




No. 19.                                                     9
others, I think we may safely say, that if we expect to meet
with success in establishment, continuance, and practical
utility of an Agricultural School, it must stand separate and
apart from all other institutions of learning, and upon a basis
of its own.
" To teach thoroughly the science and practice of agriculture, must be the main object of the Institution, for our
agricultural interest is paramount to all other interests in the
State; therefore these teachings must not be made secondary
or subservient to any other object."
The committee on Agricultural College in the board of
agriculture of the State of Maine report, among other resolutions, the following:' Rtesolved, That the fund arising from thisfund (the grant
of Congress,) will not be, in the opinion of this Board, more
than sufficient for the suitable endowment of one efficient
school of the kind contemplated.
"6 Resolved, That such a school should not be incorporated
with, or appended to, any of the literary institutions of the
State, because they are designed for, and adapted to, a different style of education and training, and also because a
liability would thereby be incurred of an overshadowing influence from, or an absorption into, the institution to which
it is attached."
Professor L. R. Fisk, late of the State Agricultural College,
after quoting and approving the above extracts from  Dr.
HIitchcock's report, in an address delivered before the last
Legislature, remarks:
6 It cannot be doubted, then, that the farmers of Michigan
and the Legislature acted in accordance with the experience
of European institutions, and principles that are almost selfevidently true, in providing for a separate and independent
organization of the Agricultural College."
Professor PFisk, in the able address referred to, again says,
as we think, with truth and wisdom:
2




10                                                 HousE Doe.
I Doubtless the agriculturists of Michigan who originated
the College, and insisted that it be made a separate institution, were governed by what they considered good and sufficient reasons,
";They unquestionably discovered the fact that from the
nature of the case success could be obtained only by making
Agriculture the central and leading idea of the institution;
that to make it subordinate would inevitably crush out its
life; that like the water of the outer circles of the maelstrom,
it would be drawn to the engulfing centre and be swallowed
up and lost forever. Agriculture must be the grand nucleus
aroucnd w'hich all the parts revolve.  It must be that in which
the whole organization centres.  It must be the heart of the
Inst itut;ion, the very sun of the system, with its light and
heat, rather than. the dependent satelliteO
Agri.culture has fkar less attractions for the young than
the pro.fossions. It is very seldom that the farm is chosen in
preer'ence to what are called the learned professions, if all
are eclually accessible. There is a degree of eclat attaching
bto the latter. There is more that is captivating in the name;
and they offer higher assurances of speedy  success, and
seem to point out an easier road to distinctioln.  It is well
known with what eager steps our young men who have been
favoreed with aclaemic and collegiate instruction, press towards these p rofessions.  The charm may be a delusive one,
blut yet it lias its hold upon the mind. The result is, and experience confirms the theory, that where these elements exist
together in the same institution, the agricultural is absorbed
a-nd swallowed up by the others."
The purposes of an Agricultural College show  these conclusions to be true. These purposes are so well expressed in
the address already referred to, that we again quote:
1st. It will be a source of original knowledge.  The experiments instituted cannot fail in time to advance the science
of agriiclture, both by revealing more successful methods of
farming, and warning against those processes that are un,




No. 19.                                                    11
profitable.  iMuch light should originate from  this source.
With the cordial co-operation of intelligent farmers throughout the State, suggesting experiments and tests which would
solve questions practically important; feeling that the Institution was founded to aid them, and that they are doing here,
by, proxy that which it is olten impossible for private farmers
to furnish facilities to accomplish by themselves; and being
governed by enlightened views, we can unitedly make this
Institution a guiding star to the farmers of the State. Farmers of Michigan, the College is yours, and it is in your power
to make it eminently useful.
" 2d. By the labors of the farmng  the instructions of the
lecture room may be illustrated and impressed on the mind.
In gaining a knowledge of the scientific principles involved
in agriculture, practice should never be separated from theoretical insltruction. Young men should not only learn the
principles, but they should be taught to apply them, and
thereby they learn them more perfectly and in a wider sense.
" 3d The Institution fulrnishes extensive means of instruction in the scientific principles oi farming. The truths, established by experiments prosecuted in different paris of the
world, are presented; the student is made acquainted with
those facts and laws of the minerel, vegetable and animal
kingdoms, which throw any light on the philosophy of agriculture.  Special facilities, such  as Laboratory,  Museum,
Cabinet;, Herbarium, Botanical Garden, are provided for imparting instruction such as no farmers can derive from a
private source.
"4th. Agriculture becomes ennobled by its association
with study.  Being the leading element in a college course
in a State institution, it is invested with an importance, educationally, which is not usually awarded to it.;b5th. LManual labor is made honorable, and all become
impressed with the idea that it is honorable.  There is a
feeling too prevalent among the young that it is dishonorable
to labor. Here it is a positive requirement.  It is indeed an




12                                                 HOUSE Doc.
essential element in the success of the Institution, and all are
taught too look upon it as a part of a great plan to accomplish an important work.' 6th. It will exert a strong influence in retaining educated
young men in industrial pursuits.  In almost every case,
young men in college acquire a disinclination to labor, as
well as a physical incapacity for labor. They are shut out
from the laboring world; they do not mingle with it; they
lose their sympathy for it; they are accustomed to regard
themselves as occupying a peculiarly favored place above
the laboring class. Hence they crowd what are called the
learned p ofessions, as presenting attractions peculiarly suited
to their tastes. College training generally draws an impassable line between educated talent and the industrial world.
If the object be to educate all classes, this certainly is a
serious evil. Says one of the Professors in our own State
University, in a communication some time since given to
the public:'In the University designed for the training of
professional men, the destined agriculturist will not only
fail to obtain that kind of liberal training and scientific
knowledge which are adapted to his life, but there will be
nothing congenial in the atmosphere of such an institution
to the moral and social nature of the farmer whose habits of
life remove him from those who resort to Universities.'
The truth of this statement is plain to all. The spirit of
such institutions is necessarily adverse to the habits of the
working classes. Take four or five years of that part of a
young man's life in which he is cultivating the nind, acquiring habits of thought, assuming mentally a fixed character,
in which he is making preparation for his future career, and
shut him out from the business world; keep him fiom mingling with it, give him an entirely difierent atmosphere; make
him  breathe it, and get accustomed to it, and love it, so
that his habits of thought and his spirit shall be wholly disconnected from industrial pursuits, and will you not effectually produce a total alienation of his life from  those scenes




No. 19.                                                  13
requiring labor?  How can it be expected that a man will
become interested in labor when you educate him to neglect
and wholly ignore it? And just so long as our colleges pursue their present system, will there be an inevitable tendency
to form two classes in society, the uneducated laboring class,
and the educated non-laboring class.  Now I look upon the
system of Agricultural Colleges, imparting a knowledge of
agriculture, and embodying labor as an essential element,
as designed to work the grandest results in favor of industrial
pursuits, by retaining the sons of the farmer on the farm, and
thrusting educated talent into those branches of business demanding labor. Should these be the only beneficial effects
growing out of these institutions, they would amply repay
the cost.  They would ultimately  increase  the farming
capital far more than the expense incurred in their supporto
"'7th. Agricultural Colleges afford physical as well as
mental education.  There can be no question but that close
study without labor or vigorous exercise, shortens life. The
organization of our institutions of learning, should be such as
not to endanger health. This is certainly of the utmost importance. Experience, as well as theory in this Institution,
sustains the fact that a certain amount qf labor contributes
to the health of the student, while at the same time it does
not in the least arrest mental progress, but rather promotes it.
8' th. The Agricultural College will exert a direct influence on the education of the young.  The departments of
science which must here receive especial attention, are precisely those which are now monopolizing the thoughts of the
most learned men of the age. There is everywhere, indeed,
in this particular line of study, intense activity.  Scientific
associations are formed, scientific journals published, and the
liveliest interest is manifested in bringing to light those
mighty truths of nature which have too long been concealed
from our view. Men are giving their lives without hope of
pecuniary reward, to the prosecution of these scientific re



14                                               HOUSE Doo.
searches.  And it is a significant fact that these several
branches of science, which necessarily form  the principal
part of the course of study in an agricultural college, and
which must receive a much larger share of attention than
can be devoted to them  in other institutions, are the very
studies which are now profoundly taxing the intellect of the
scientific world.
" In this way an Agricultural College naturally and necessarily falls into the spirit of the age, and moves in the same
channel of truth.  Thus while science, in its rapid development, cannot fail to lend important aid to agriculture, Agricultural Colleges must reciprocate the favor by entering into
the work of scientific researches.
"9th. There are moneyed arguments in favor of such an
institution. I have before said that the more scientific the
farming, the more successful it is; and that it is successful
because of its conformity to nature's laws. By giving instruction in genuine scientific agriculture, not the intangible,
chimerical theories of the speculatist, but theories dignified
into substantial, well-established science, much good must be
accomplished in a pecuniary point of view.  Is it possible
that a man should not be benefitted by an intimate acquaintance with the material on which he bestows his labor? The
light that would emanate from  this source, being felt all
through our State, in its aggregate influence, would add much
to the productiveness of our farming capital.  Again, by
elevating the character of the people of the State, raising the
reputation of this commonwealth abroad, it will aid in inviting among us men of intelligence and capital, thus adding to
our sources of income far more than the cost of the support
of the College. Capital will always center where there exist
the most intelligent means for its use.
"10. But all who enter such an Institution may not go
forth from the College to labor on the farm, but many of
them will engage in other pursuits in life. This may be true,
as it is with all our professional schools. But 1st. A vastly




No. 19.                                                  15
larger proportion will devote themselves to agriculture, than
though they pursued their studies in other Institutions; and
2d. Every class of men, of whatever calling, would be benefited by a knowledge of agriculture as a science and art.
This is the great and leading interest of the land. All men
in this country must, in one way or another, come in contact
with this agricultural element. This foundation art, then in
the business world, whose facts are woven through every
department of life, and whicli meet us in almost every transaction, should be studied to some extent by all.  Aside from
the beneficial effects ofthis system of study on health, and its
favorable influence on habits of industry, the young would
acequire a knowledge of the principles and practice of this,
the most wide-spread and pervading branch of business of
the whole country, and which is intimately connected with
our prosperity as a nation.  I can see a special advantage
accruing to persons in almost every pursuit, from a somewhat
minute acquaintance with this subject; an advantage not
derived from any other art. But when in later years, men
retire from the more stirring scenes of business or public life
to the quiet of the farm, as they almost universally seek to
do, they find a more direct and practical use for the knowledge they acquired in earlier days. It is well known that
the most unprofitable, and often ruinous expenditures of
means are seen among that class of men who, without any
previous experience, undertake the management of farms at
a somewhat advanced age. They discover when it is too late,
that agriculture is not so simple an art as they had supposed,
and that previous study and practice are absolutely necessary to success."
These views the undersigned believe to be sound and in
accordance with the deliberate conviction of a vast majority
of the intelligent agriculturists of the State. The Committee
of the State Agricultural Society, consisting of Messrs. G.
W. Beckwith, of Cassopolis C. W. Greene, of Farmington,
and R. F. Johnstone, of Detroit, appointed to visit and report




16!HouSE Doc.
on the Agricultural College, in their report made in January,
1863, say:
"We have reason to believe that the same quality of
education would not be furnished more cheaply or so successfully at any other institution than it is at this one.
On this subject we cannot give any positive data at present, for want of time, but it is very certain that should a Department of Agriculture be connected with the University,
additional professorships would be needed, and it is considered that the object of establishing a school or college, where
labor in connection with study must be a feature, would
have to be surrendered, as it is not esteemed feasible that
students who labor and those who do not, would harmonize
at the same institution, though there would probably be less
of that feeling at the Michigan University than at any other
in the United States.
" Your committee, without entering into details, therefore, would recommend that, instead of agitating a proposed
removal on the ground of economy or efficiency in the
educational system of the Agricultural College, that the Board
of Agriculture should be strengthened, and not weakened in
the efforts they are now  making to render the Institution
more efficient and useful, and more especially now, when
they are a body who, by their cautious and economical administration in the past two years, have gained valuable experience, and are better prepared than at any previous time,
to build up and sustain this College in that course of useful
instruction, which will undoubtedly eventually repay the
citizens of the State for all the direct outlay it may have been
at.'  *  *  *
"The condition of the College itself, financially, and in regard to its property, is far from discouraging. It is generally contended that its location is a grave fault, that almost
deprives this generation of the full value of returns from the
endowments granted to it. Your committee deem it to be
too late in the day to discuss the wisdom of planting such an




No. 19.                                                   11
Institution in the woods. It is established, and has already
sent out roots in many directions, which, if torn up, could
not be transplanted to any other location, and the time lost
in waiting for the transplanted tree to live, if it did live,
would place the period at which this generation would gather
fruits from it, farther off than ever."
But in the opinion of the undersigned, a fai-seeing policy
established it where it is. Here, on the very margin of the
cultivated portions of our country, where the " forests primeval" are just vanishing before the encroachments of civilization, the youthful and vigorous State of Michigan, first
amnong her sister States, dedicates this Institution to the instruction of men who are devoted exclusively to the cultivation of the earth. Established on no precedent, it is like a
pioneer in the march of men and the march of mind.  It is
peculiarly fit that such an enterprise should be founded on
the confines of the country, which a native poet, Whittier,
so gushingly describes:
"' The rudiments of empire here,
Are plastic yet and wvarm,
The chaos of a mighty world
Is rounding into form."
The elements of the Institution are rough and crude, but
even in the embryo, we recognize an enlightened forecast,
that would do honor to those venerable commonwealths
which have stamped their indelible impress on the history
of mankind.
After a full discussion of the Report, the following Resolutions were unanimously passed by the Executive Committee of the State Agricultural Society:
" Resolvec, That the efforts made by the State Board of Agriculture, during the two years it has been organized, to administer economically and usefully, the State Agricultural
College, and its revenue, merit our most hearty approbation,
and entitle it to the confidence of the Legislature and the
people of the State,
2




18                                               HOUSE Doc.
Resolved, That the proposition to remove the College, at
the present time, must be regarded as a hazardous experiment, calculated to injure rather than to benefit the cause of
agricultural education.
" Resolved, That in view of the prosperous condition of the
agricultural interests in all parts of the State of Michigan,
we recommend that such appropriation as may be needed
by the State Board of Agriculture, for the purpose of sustaining the Agricultural College, be granted by the Legislature.
"R esolved, That it is hereby recommended to the State
Board of Agriculture, within a reasonable time, to lay down,
fence and put in condition, so much of the land immediately
around the College buildings, as would form  a moderate
sized model or experimental farm, and that we believe the
people of the State will sustain the said Board, in the exercise of a judicious liberality in securing the services of competent instructors, in the various departments of instruction;
as it is believed that such "judicious liberality   will add
materially to the reputation and usefulness of the Institution?'
It is sometimes argued that a farm and manual labor are
not necessary to an agricultural school. Surely mere science,
the theory of agriculture, might be imparted with a few
acres for illustration, or perhaps with no land at all; but the
school, in order to advance the interests of agriculture,
should aim at returning its graduates to their farms, and a
life of manual labor.  Nearly all who have given attention
to the subject, have advised that labor should be an essential
feature in an Agricultural College.  Dr. Hitchcock, in his
report, says: t'I take it for granted that such a recuisition
[labor] would be indispensable in these schools."  Governor
Andrew, in advising the Legislature of Massachusetts to
nite the Congress grant to the Bussey fund, speaking of the
conditions of the latter grant, says: "It directs his homestead
estate called' Woodland Hill'9 in Roxbury, consisting of over
two hundred acres of land, to be retained by the trustees, and




No. 19.                                                  19
6 that they will establish there a course of instruction in practical agriculture, in useful and ornamental gardening, in
botany, and in such other branches of natural science as
may tend to promote a knowledge of practical agriculture,
and the various arts subservient thereto and connected therewith, and cause such courses of lectures to be delivered
there, at such seasons of the year and under such regulations
as they may think best adapted to promote the ends designed.9'
The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, in successful
operation, requires of all students three hours labor daily.
The committee appointed to draw up a plan for the organization of that College, say: " There are many public spirited
men who believe that the establishment of such a school,
where boys may be educated as farmers, is of more importance than any design which could occupy public attention.
It is a fact universally known, that the literary institutions
of this country, as at present constituted, educate young men
to a total unfitness, not only for the pursuit of a farmer, but
as companions for his parents, brothers and  sisters, with
whom  he6 is expected to spend his life. He is therefore
driven from his father's estate, and into a profession for which
he has little capacity."
In 1858 a society for the promotion of Agriculture, proposed a prize of $150 for the best essay on the following topic:
"The most useful system  of agricultural instruction, by
which to acquire a practical agricultural education, such as
would fit a young man to commence the business of a farmer, upon the average of farming lands in Massachusetts,"
The following are extracts from the prize essay elicited by
the society:
" At the outset, however, we are met by the objection that
the surest means of causing a young man to quit his paternal
acres, and enter into other business, is to give him a superior education. This is not to be regarded as proof that
knowledge gives one a distaste for rural occupations, but




O20                                              HOUSE Doc
rather, that it affords him the capacity to earn a livelihood
in an easier and more eligible way."
"In order to train young men to be good and persistent
farmers, they must be better qualified to succeed in farming
than in any other business."
"In instituting a system  of agricultural education, there
are five general objects to be regarded:
" 1st. The moral training of the youth, to cause them to love
their occupation;
"12d. Their physical training, to enable them  to endure
their labor;
"3rd. Their mechanical practice, to fit them  to perform
their work;
"4th. Their early practical instruction, to qualify them tounderstand their business;
" 5th. Their instruction in collateral science, to enable
them to improve their practice.
"The moral training of the youth, included in the first
head, is the most difficult point to be discussed, under the
present circumstances, when other employments offer more
dazzling temptations, and promise greater rewards'than the
sober occupations of agriculture.  Population has not yet
become so dense as to cause a man who owns a farm, to congratulate himself that it is not other property.  Indeed, he
often feels chagrined, when he considers that the accidental
possession of a farm has imposed upon him  some necessity
to live on it. In too many instances, a farmer with five or
six sons, is unable to induce one of them to remain upon the
homestead and follow his occupation. All, one by one, as
they approach manhood, leave the farm and give their attention to other pursuits.  One learns a mechanical art, another
studies or learns a profession, and others become tradesmen.
Not one can be persuaded to take the farm, though it will be
promised to him as his inheritance, if he will but consent to
occupy it."
"if all the young men who are destined to be farmers, could




~No. 19.                                                   21
be inspired with an ambition that is based upon the pursuits of
agriculture, this ambition alone would cause them to become
zkillfuil and intelligent in the practice of their art.  It is those
who love their occupation, who are the most likely to become
well acquainted with it.  The means and opportunities for
the acquisition of knowledge are so great, that it is more
important to increase the desire for any branch of knowledge than the opportunities for gaining it."
" We will now turn our attention to the physical training
which is necessary to enable the young men to endure their
labor.  A boy who is to be a farmer, and who is expected to
work with his own hands, must from his earliest years, be
trained to robust exercises.  Ile must be educated in such a
manner, as not to be incapacitated to endure the toil and
hardships of a farmer's life.  Without this hardihood his
business would be a sore affliction, and not an agreeable and
healthful employment.  Labor and practice must attend all
his steps, and a knowledge of the application of science to
agriculture must be imparted to him during those days and
hours,  when occasion requires a suspension of labor. All
the gifts of science which a young man can thus obtain,
without a relinquishment of those habits of invigorating exercise, which are needful to insure a capacity for toil, are
clear gain to agricultureo  For every art, the youth who is
to be instructed in it, must be trained in harness, and the
knowledge that comes to him while handling the implements
of his art, is worth more fthan the saie amnount gathered in
a library. A  slavish continuance of labor ought to be condemned, because every man has a right to the enjoyment of
life; but there is always danger, lest durin  long and free
quent relaxations from  labor, a young man ma(y lose, both.
his capacity to endure, and his willingcness to follow a toilsome occupation. Such an olbjection is very generally urged
by our farlners against agricultural colleges, vwh(ich they say,
would not only unfit the youth for labor, but would cause
them to turn away into other paths."




22                                                HOUSE Doc.
"But our people obtain their ideas of an agricultural college from the customs of our literary institutions, in which
there is no just provision for the physical training ot the
pupils. In an agricultural school, this would form  a very
important part of the exercises; and at such an institution,
under a good system of regulations and discipline, as at a
military school, the boys would be hardened by their labor
on the farm connected with the school] while they were pursuing a course of studies."
*,' " The third division of our subject relates to
fhe early mechanical pracice which is reqired to fit young
m<-n to perform their vwork. The distinction between practicat knowledge and manual skill or mechanical tact, is not
generally understood, but is a very important one. The proprietor of a farm, who should superintend its operations, if
he were young and capable, though he never joined in the
labor, would soon obtain a practical knowledge of farming.
But unless he participated in the labor, he would not learn
to hold a plow, to swing a scythe, nor to perform any but the
most simple operations of agriculture.  He might be thorough
in his practical knowledge, a good adviser in regard to times
and seasons, sowing, reaping, and all that appertains to a
successful practice, still he is not a complete armner, because
he is wanting in mechanical skill and mechanical tact. He
cannot, with his own hands, perfiorn the manipulations of the
farm.
iS   e            n uTManual skill, like skill in debate, in mathematics, or in any exercise of the wits, can be acquired only
by early practice. Some may be disposed to deny that the
manipulations of the farm require that long apprenticeship
which is usually devoted to learning a mechanical art. This
may be true of any particular branch of farm  work; but
there is a great variety of labor and skill involved in the
whole circle of operations. A young man who is strong and
capable, may learn in one season to swing a scythe, so as to
be reckoned competent to receive ordinary wages; but an ex



No. 19.                                                   23
perienced mower would readily perceive his own superiorityo
If, however, he could perfect himself in one set of manipulations during the first season, he would require a second season
to learn another set, and before he was proficient in all
departments of skill, he would have served nearly a seven
years' apprenticeship.
"It is worthy of remark, that while men in general, see
very clearly that they cannot be good practitioners of certain
arts, without a long course of study and experience, they believe that there are other arts which they would not be
obliged to learn, but may, if they please, 6 take up  at any
time.  One of the occupations which they suppose they can' take up,' thus suddenly, and without preparation, is farming."
A science or art requires experience in exact proportion to
the uncertainty that exists in the application of its rules and
principles; yet this very uncertainty renders the ignorant.
mnore bold in assuming the practice of such an art. Hence,.
the multitude of quacks who invade the ranks of medicine;
and agriculture. A complete farmer will be found, ihere.
fore, only among those who were brought up to the business
of farming.  All others must be awkward in the performance
of their labor, unskillful in their manipulations, imperfect in
their practical knowledge, and, if they carry on a farm, can'be successful only by using the advice and experience of
their hired men.  The operations of ploughing and scattering
seed, of mowing, reaping, gathering and stacking the diffbrent crops; the rearing of animals and the management of
cattle, both when employed in labor and when in the stall;
~the modes of executing the different tasks connected with
their training, and the adjustment of their harness and their
burdens; the care of fences and buildings, and the preparae
tion and equipment of agricultural implements, constitute a
variety of performances, and require a manifold exercise of
mechanical skill, which can be acquired only by many years
of early practice,"
The above extracts are introduced into our report in order




24                                                 HOURE DoC.
to show the importance which is attached to a system of daily
labor as an essential feature of a College for the education of
farmers.  Thlis labor system  finds no place in any of the
plans for the removal oi the College, which have come to our
notice.  Is it wise to abandon a system  recommended by
nearly all, if not all, who have examined the subject of agricultural education, which is considered on every hand so essential to the retaining of graduates in the business of farming, and wli}ch is in successful operation in several Colleges
already establisled, in order to try a new experiment on a
plan everywhere condemned?
In regard to the last question, which plan will be the
cheapest?  Your committee are convinced, that to sustain
the Institution in its present situation, will cost less, while it
will accomplish more, than by connecting it with the University.
The growth of all educational institutions is necessarily
slow.  Years are recquired to secure the development of all
great Colleges.
Such has been the history of the University itself.  For the
first ten years of its existence, from  1843 to 1852 inclusive,
the average number of students was only 59 and a fraction.
The average attendance at the Agricultural College, since
its organization, has been much more, having been about 72.
Your committee would say nothing to impair the confidence of the people in the University. It is one of the noblest
Institutions of the land; but it should not be allowed to absorb the other established educational institutions of the State
and it cannot be sound policy on the part of that Institution
to attempt this, or of the State at large to suffer it to be done,
The Agricultural College is now in a condition, with the
munificent Congressional endowment, so wisely set apart for
its support, to become, at no distalnt dcay, not onlly a selfsustaining Institution, but one of the most beneficial Institutions of the State.  Of it, the agriculturists and legislators of
Michigan may well be proud, and the honor and interests of
the State demand that they should cherish and sustain it.




No. 19.                                                    25
The buildings have cost and are now  worth, for the purposes intended in their construction, about fifty or sixty
thousand dollars.
The farm in immediate connection with the College, contains 676 acres, 250 of which are under cultivation.  It has
but just been brought into a productive state. Its value, aside
from the buildings, cannot be placed at less than $27,000,
while the College remains as it now is. In addition to this,
the wise action of former legislators gave to the College some
6,000 acres of swamp lands, adjoining and in the vicinity of
the farm. These lands are believed to be worth, the College
remaining where it is, at least $30,000, and with the policy
adopted by the Board of Agriculture, will rapidly increase in
value.
The Congressional grant is 240,000 acres.  If the average
value be placed at $1 25 per acre, which we believe to be
low, it gives $300,000. The endowment, therefore, aside from
the farm, which must bring in a large income, cannot be
placed at a less sum than $330,000.  At 7 per cent interest,
this will give an annual income of 323,100, a sum ample for
the great end intended.
Here the undersigned would also observe that in making
this grant, Congress undoubtedly had in mind the endowment
of independent Agricultural Colleges; the very terms of the
grant preclude the idea of professorships or departments in
other Colleges. The grant runs:
Sec. 4.  nlAnd be it further enactccd, That all moneys derived froml the sale of the lands aforesaid, by the States to
which the lands are apportioned, and from the sales of land
script, hereinbefore provided for, slhall be invested in stocks of
the United States, or of' the State, or some other saft stocks,
yielding not less than five per centuma  upon the par value of
said stocks; and that the moneys so invested, shall constitute
a perpetual fund, the capital of which shall remain -orever
undiminished, (except so far as may be provided in section
4




26                                                 HOUSE DoG.
fifth, of this act,) and the interest of which shall be inviolably
appropriated by each State which may take and claim the
benefit of this act, to the endowment, support and maintenance of at least one College, where the leading object shall
be, without excluding other scientific and classical studies,
and including military  tactics, to teach such branches of
learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts,
in such mannaner as the Legislatures of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical
education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and
professions in ii 1ife
lWhatever the arguments used to procure the removal of
the Collee, asnd the establishment of an agricultural department at Annt Arbor, sihoitld  such removal be made, your
conmmittee are convinced that on the one hand great losses
must come to the State, and on the other hand  greatly increased expenditures must be incurredo
In the first place, in case of removal, much must be lost of
what we now h1ave.
The College f-rm and all of the swamp lands adjoining
must become, by the removal, of greatly diminished  value,
The amount ofl the depreciation cannot fall short of many
thousands or dollars.
The buildings can be of little value for any purposes other
than as a College; they will be nearly a total loss.
In case of re-mnoval to Ann Arbor we should have to again
make heavy expenditures int order to secure there what we
already have here.  WVe should have to acquire a farm and
erect suitable buildings. This must be manifest to all, as there
are no extra, buildings connected with the University that
can be used for the purpose.  At least $100,000 would be required to start the department, so far as farm and buildings
are alone concerned.  It must be an unwise policy that counsels a course that inevitably leads to such loss, and necessi"
tates such expenditures at this time.
Again,'the expense of instruction at Ann Arbor cannot




No. 19.                                                      27
be less than in the College as it is. It will require just the
same course of instruction, as many additional classes as
there are in the College, and as many additional instructors
or professors. Any curtailment here must be at the expense
of the thoroughness of the instruction rendered.  At the Agricultural College the classes who receive in-door instruction
in Botany and Horticulture one-half day, are with the Professor in the field for three hours another portion of the day,
and this instruction continues daily through the year.  At
the'University Botany is taught by a Professor who adds
Geology and Zoology to his department, and gives instruction in Botany  but a portion of the year.  So of other
branches of the course of study. Indeed, Dr. hlitchcock, in
the report already referred to, says a department in a College is insufficient, because "'such professorships, unless numerous, would be entirely insufficient to accomplish- the objects desired."  This language indicates a fear lest a false
economy should defeat'the object in view,  Such a fear of
absorption is expressed in the resolution of the Committee of
the Maine Board of Agriculture. To the same purport is
the following from the address o-f Professor Fisk, before the
Legislature:
" Those who have imagined that a chair of agriculture,
simply in our ordinary Colleges, is all that is required, have
formed very inadequate views of the wants to be provided.
for.
"In the first place, there is scarcely a professorship that is
essential in a separatea  Agricultural College but that would
have to be organized in addition to the regular force, if it
were but a department. I need scarcely remind you that the
branches which constitute the principal part of the course of
study in an Agricultural School are precisely those to which
ordinarily the least attention is given in College.  For illustration:  Usually but few lectures are given in Zoology.  In
an Agricultural College, the importance of the subject requires that Zoology and Animal Physiology should employ




28                                                 HOUSE Doc.
the whole time of one man.  Ordinarily, also, but a few
weeks are devoted to the study of Botany and Vegetable
Physiology. In an Agricultural College the extent of scientific and professional instruction demanded in this department, renders a separate chair of Botany and Vegetable
Physiology indispensable.  In Colleges of' Arts, Sciences,
and Literature,' the Chemical department generally embraces simply Elementary Chemistry.  In an Agricultural
-College, the applications of Chemistry to agriculture must
constitute the principal part of a professorship.  Geology
and Mineralogy usually receive but little attention in College; and lMeteorology none at all.  The intimate relations
of these sciences to agriculture, afford scope and labor enough
to employ the whole time of one man. In M1athematics the
subject of Rural Engineering is supplementary to the instruction given, and necessarily increases the expense.  It was
well said by Gov. Blair, in his inaugural message, that the
Agricultural College' should teach far more thoroughly and
extensively the sciences that relate to agriculture than any
ordinary College.' In addition to all of this, aside from  the
Mechanic Arts, the general subject of practical agriculture
-opens up a wide field of instruction which must also be provided for.
" Thus, if the object be to teach scientific agriculture, an extensive acquaintance must be secured with those sciences
which explain the philosophy of agriculture. A  Chair of
Agrliculture, then without the means of acquiring  a thlorou(gl
knowledge of those sciences which lie at the foundation of
this art, every one will readily see, could not accomplish the
object sought. Therefbre, to cover the additional instruction
demanded in our Colleges and U niversities, should an agricultural department be attached, the Faculty must be increased by at least four or five Professors.  An entirely new
course of study must be established, difiering almost as much
ifomn the general course as that of law or medicine does from,the arts and sciences.




No. 19.                                                   29'
"Patssing from the cost of instruction to the facilities required, and what do we find? Whether the Agricultural
College be a separate institution or simply a department, in
both cases there must be a practical farm to illustrate the instructions of the lecture room. In both cases must there be
an experimental farm to improve the science of agriculture.
In both cases must all the stock and implements for working
the same be provided. In both cases must there be a Botanical Garden. and seed room. In both cases must there be a
Kitchen Garden, for instruction in this department of husbandry. In both cases must there be a Veterinary Hospital.
In both cases must there be collections in Botany and
Zoology, with special reference to the application of these
sciences to practical agriculture.  In both cases should there
be an Agricultural Library, differing essentially fiom  the
libraries usually attached to colleges. Indeed, agriculture
being a specialty, its facilities and appliances must also be
specialties."
In regard to economy, therefore, the removal of the College
to Ann Arbor presents only these two aspects, either to call
on the treasury for expenditures, such as have been already
incurred at the Agricultural College, or to abandon the full
course of instruction  and illustration  there given.  The
University has no means of its own to. spare.  It could not
even, under the pressing necessity of the times, spare means
for a military professorship.  In their last report, the Board
of Regents, after speaking of the "strict economy which a
pressing necessity for all the funds legitimately belonging to
the University has always imposed," and after mentioning
many wants for which the University has not means, proceeds to say:  "Another pressing want of the University,
which has been heretofore referred to by our Board, is a
suitable College Chapel, for the erection of which we can only
look to the State or the General Government to supply the
necessary funds.  Our Military Chair is still vacant, nor will
the state of our annual income admit of any attempt to




30                                               HOUSE Doc.
materially increase our corps of professors, and while we can
only report our willingness to perfect the arrangement, if it
is thought desirable, we must look to the State to make the
necessary provision for the increased expenses of founding,
n connection with our scientific department, a free Military
School."
Nor can the citizens of Ann Arbor very well supply the
want. It is said the amount they have paid towards the
erection of the Law School building falls short of their sub.
scription to the amount of some five thousand dollars. The
economy of removal seems to be no less than the abandonment of what is peculiar to the discipline and course of study
of a'n Agricultural School, the sinking of the College into
class instruction, under Professors already sufficiently taxed
with labor, and the ignoring of the fair interpretation of the
grant of Congress.
The examination which the undersigned have given to the
Agricultural College, has convinced us that misapprehension
exists as to the current expenditures of the College. The impression prevails that it uses annually a very large amount of
money, without rendering corresponding advantages to the
State, especially in the way of experiments and original investigations in the Science of Agriculture. The fact is, however, that its expenditures, from  year to year, have been
only sufficient to provide proper facilities for the education
of its students, and to make gradual improvements in land
and buildings, with a view to a higher excellence in the outdoor discipline in future.
The appropriation for 1857 and 1858, was.......$40,000 00
"      "6       "  1859 and 1860, was......  37,500 00
s6     66      S"  1861 and 1862, was....... 16,500 00
Total    o........ c..  o........  e..  0  94500    00
This is the entire cost of the Institution to the State; for the
first appropriation of $56,320 was from the sale of salt spring
land, which cost the State nothing. The total above given




No. 19.                                                    31
exceeds the amount actually expended by the College since
it was opened to students, by the sum of $13,472 73, which
should be added to the $56,320, making 869,793 73 as the
first cost of the Institution, prior to its opening.  The farm
cost over $10,000. The buildings were, unfortunately, not
well made at first, but two large College buildings, a brick
barn, four tasteful'brick dwellings, a chemical laboratory,
costing, it is said, some $3,000, the first furnishing of farm
with stock and tools, and other expenditures incident to a
new enterprise in a place removed from  ordinary markets
and channels of trade, and in a season of great financial embarrassments throughout the country, all these do not afford,
out of a sum of $59,793 73, an unexampled margin for waste
and extravagance.  For the last four years, the average annual expenditure has been $10,131 82. The current expenses
of each of the last two years, have been about $10,000, a
sum greater than the appropriation made in 1861, which was
made in view of an unexpended balance in the treasury of
the College.
In regard to the number of students, it must be borne in
mind, that it is only two years since the course of study was
extended from two years, to the four years required by the
present law of reorganization.  This radical change, from  a
purely technical to a more mixed course, was preceded the
year previous by one as sweeping in its character.  Under
these circumstances it is natural to look for fewness of numbers in the higher classes, and the graduates of the College.
At first, also, the rate of wages paid students per hour was
often as high as ten cents-the maximum wages is now eight
cents; the first course of study was less professional by far
than the present.  All these circumstances would account for
the fact, that at one or two terms of the College, the number
of students was,greater than during the last two years.  On
the other hand, the number in attendance during each of the
last two years, much exceeded those who were present after
the first radical change in the course of instruction; but, after
all, so far as numbers in attendance is concerned, the enterprise is rather successful than otherwise.
The Agricultural College of Pennsylvania-a State of
nearly four times the population of Michigan-has been in




32                                        HOUSE Doe. No. 19.
operation four years, on a uniform  system of discipline and
instruction, and 119 students are reported as the greatest
number in attendance in any one year. Yet this is called a
school in successful operation by themselves, by the Governor
ot Massachusetts, by the'Secretary of the Board of Agriculture in Maine, and by the agricultural press generally. According to the tables presented in the American Almanac for
1857, of the 121 Co'leges in the' United States, but 14 had
over 200 students in attendance; 9 had between 200 and 150
in attendance; 31 had between?50 and 100 in attendance;
18 had between 100 and 75 in attendance, and 49 had less
than 75 in attendance.
But few of the youth of any State advance to the higher
grades of educational institutions, as the figures just given
show; and this might have been especially anticipated of the
farming community.  Unlike men in the learned professions,
they proceed surely to wealth, without any training in the
schools.  An Agricultural College is a new thing, and must
win its way to their confidence gradually.  It was for the
general advancement of this class, that observing farmers and
the State Agricultural Society, and an enlightened Legislature, united in the founding of the Agricultural College. It
has been, by an act of re-organization, passed by the last Legislature, placed in charge of a State Board of Agriculture.
This is the sole Institution in their care, and they feel a pride
in its proper development and usefulness.  They  have
managed the last appropriation with economy and judgment,
The sum asked for each of the coming two years is $10,000(
and is the least the State can afford to give, because it is the
least that will afford creditable facilities of instruction to
those who resort to it. It is the least that will enable the Institution to do honor to the State, that was the first in the
United States to establish such a College, a College whose
general plan has been imitated by other Legislatures and corporate bodies, and which is still looked to to lead the way in
the enterprise.
1The undersigned are therefore of opinion that the Agricultural College should be left to the management of the
State Board of Agriculture, and generously sustained by the
Legislature of the State.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
W. H. HAZE,
Ch'n Com. on Education,
RICHARD J. CREGO,
Ch'n Corn. on Agriculture,
GEORGE LUTHER,
JAMES DOCKERAY.